Today's poem is A Wife In London by Thomas Hardy.
It describes the experience of a wife, whose husband has been killed in the Boer War.
The following images summarise the poem:
Firstly we see a woman sitting in sadness.
Secondly, we see the telegram announcing her husband's death.
Finally, a letter from her husband - saying he is looking forward to returning.
Now use the link to revise the poem.
Use these headings to prepare your page for what you will learn.
A Wife in London
She sits in the tawny vapour
That the Thames-side lanes have uprolled,
Behind whose webby fold-on-fold
Like a waning taper
The street-lamp glimmers cold.
A messenger's knock cracks smartly,
Flashed news is in her hand
Of meaning it dazes to understand
Though shaped so shortly:
He—he has fallen—in the far South Land…
II – The Irony
'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker,
The postman nears and goes:
A letter is brought whose lines disclose
By the firelight flicker
His hand, whom the worm now knows:
Fresh—firm—penned in highest feather—
Page-full of his hoped return,
And of home-planned jaunts of brake and burn
In the summer weather,
And of new love that they would learn.
Link to YouTube Video
It describes the experience of a wife, whose husband has been killed in the Boer War.
The following images summarise the poem:
Firstly we see a woman sitting in sadness.
Secondly, we see the telegram announcing her husband's death.
Finally, a letter from her husband - saying he is looking forward to returning.
Now use the link to revise the poem.
Use these headings to prepare your page for what you will learn.
•Content (what is the poem about?):
•Context (what was happening at the time?):
•Language:
1.
2.
3.
•Structure:
1.
2.
•Poet’s ideas/aim/thoughts:
•Effect on the reader:
I – The Tragedy
She sits in the tawny vapour
That the Thames-side lanes have uprolled,
Behind whose webby fold-on-fold
Like a waning taper
The street-lamp glimmers cold.
A messenger's knock cracks smartly,
Flashed news is in her hand
Of meaning it dazes to understand
Though shaped so shortly:
He—he has fallen—in the far South Land…
II – The Irony
'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker,
The postman nears and goes:
A letter is brought whose lines disclose
By the firelight flicker
His hand, whom the worm now knows:
Fresh—firm—penned in highest feather—
Page-full of his hoped return,
And of home-planned jaunts of brake and burn
In the summer weather,
And of new love that they would learn.
Link to YouTube Video
